City hazing policies, forms approvedThe Russellville City Council approved an ordinance Thursday night that amended sections of the city's Personnel Policy Manual that was discussed and voted on by the Personnel Committee during its recent meeting at City Hall. Committee members approved a hazing policy suggested by Human Resources Director Tanessa Vaughn. Chairman Garland Steuber, Aldermen Larry Brown, Richard Harris and Eric Westcott also unanimously approved implementing and ...

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BY SEAN INGRAM
sean@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Hector Fest scheduled for Aug. 6HECTOR -- The Hector City Council voted during its regular meeting Monday to authorize use of city facilities for Hector Fest, a free music festival scheduled for Cecil Riley Memorial Park on Saturday, August 6. The festival will be produced and promoted by local resident Jason Waterson, who came up with the idea when he supervised the musical entertainment at this spring's Dogg Daze celebration. Performances will be presented from 4-10 p.m. a...

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BY STEVE LEAVELL
sleavell@cswnet.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Atkins City Council green lights ordinance to condemn propertyATKINS -- The Atkins City Council unanimously approved an ordinance that condemned a home at 721 Ave. 3 Northeast, meaning the property owner has 30 days to remove or rehabilitate the home before the city destroys it. According to the ordinance, Lee Eddie Curtis is the owner of a two-story wood frame house at 721 Ave. 3 NE. The last known address of the man is Morrilton, but Police Chief Stephen Pack explained at last month's meeting he, polic...

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BY SEAN INGRAM
sean@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Love's Flower Shop shares smilesDARDANELLE — Approximately 500 smiley mugs filled with yellow daisies were handed out in Russellville and Dardanelle on Monday by Love’s Flower Shop as part of Teleflora’s Share The Smile campaign during Make Someone Smile week. The mugs were designed last weekend in preparation for the campaign by the following volunteers who are retired florists, part of the Dardanelle Garden Club or just ladies who love flowers: Stacey Daughtrey, Nan Brown,...

Tourism board gives money to area eventsMembers of the Russellville Advertising and Promotion Commission voted Thursday to provide $3,000 in community and mini-grants for various events. Al Brown, Shawn Gordon, Dusti Yarber and Alderman Robert Wiley approved $500 community grants for the Cyclone Football Fun Run on Aug. 3 and a second Floating Christmas on Lake Dardanelle on Dec. 10, sponsored by The Journey. The second annual Hoops for Hunger high school basketball tournament and i...

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BY SEAN INGRAMsean@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Convention Center water will flow with help of $1.7 million grantThe city of Russellville and its water utility, City Corporation, got some great news Tuesday — about $1.7 million worth. General Manager Steve Mallett and Mayor Randy Horton told the City Corporation Board of Directors that U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker announced the $1.7 million grant to the city of Russellville to make water infrastructure improvements needed to serve the convention center and Interstate 40 corridor projects. Ac...

Hastings sold, local store will closeHalloween could spell doom for Hastings Entertainment in Russellville. The company, which filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy five weeks ago, announced Thursday morning it had been bought by Hilco Merchant Resources LLC and Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC, who will close all stores and liquidate the company's assets. Stores nationwide may close anytime after they have given employees the required seven-day notice, but an employee at the Russel...

Cullum donates Blessing BagsAleehya Cullum, Miss Arkansas USA Teen Ambassador from Dardanelle, donated approximately 26 Blessing Bags to the Battered Women’s Shelter on Wednesday. Cullum, a junior, said several Blessing Bags are purses made of leather and filled with items such as feminine hygiene products, makeup, jewelry, lotions, shower gels and toothpaste. “I’m a volunteer with the Russ Bus and some of the people that I’ve met through the Russ Bus have become homeles...

Residency change forces Tripp to resign from City CouncilMark Tripp, who has served as Ward 1, Position 1 alderman on the Russellville City Council for over five years, announced his resignation Wednesday to Mayor Randy Horton, Council members and the citizens of Ward 1. Arkansas State Statute 14-43-310 requires that upon vacating a designated elected ward, one must immediately vacate their elected seat. Due to his family’s pending relocation outside of Ward 1, the final day of his role in the Ward ...

Hector schools should have healthy financial carryoverHECTOR -- Hector Superintendent Mark Taylor told the School Board at its July 11 meeting that he believed the district could transfer the expected $200,000 into its building fund and "still have a healthy carryover" into the new year. Taylor presented the monthly financial report, saying that there were many expenses associated with the end of the fiscal year on June 30. He said thanks to the hard work of business manager Melody Crane, the dis...

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BY STEVE LEAVELL
sleavell@cswnet.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

City accepts $450,000 airport grant, approves other expenditures After a unanimous vote, the Russellville Regional Airport will get a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that will fund the extension of a taxiway at a cost of up to $451,646. The Russellville City Council's Finance Committee approved a resolution during its July 12 meeting to authorize Mayor Randy Horton and City Clerk Kathy Collins to apply for and accept the grant. Another resolution authorized them to enter into an agreeme...

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BY SEAN INGRAMsean@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Bond hearingsThe following individuals appeared in felony bond hearings with District Judge Don Bourne on Wednesday inside the Pope County Detention Center. Their names, ages, bond amounts and anticipated charges are listed. They will appear in Pope County Circuit Court at a later date. â ˘ Rebecca D. Bailey, 37, possession of a controlled substance -- $7,500. â ˘ Travis D. Eden, 35, two counts of delivery of a controlled substance -- $10,000.

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSON
simpson@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Deal accused of firearm theftTammy R. Deal, 51, told District Judge Don Bourne she believed she was being set up during felony bond hearings Wednesday inside the Pope County Detention Center. Deal, who also appeared in bond hearings on July 6 on a separate charge, said she believed both incidents occurred because someone was trying to "ruin her life." "That man [complainant] has cameras all around his property," she said, beginning to sob. "Please look at the cameras. Thi...

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSONsimpson@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Wastewater improvement project hits West MainThe Basin 7 and 14 wastewater improvement project by City Corporation required for the consent administrative order (CAO) by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) has begun on West Main Street. According to Lance Bartlett, chief engineering officer for City Corp., there are two sections that will be worked on, one between Reno and New Orleans and one between Independence and Keokuck. The two sections are expected to be comple...

Johnson County Idol begins todayCLARKSVILLE — The Johnson County Idol and Lip Sync Battle competitions will be over the course of two days during the Johnson County Peach Festival. The kids Idol will begin at 6 p.m. today, the adults Idol will start at 6 p.m. Friday and the Lip Sync Battle will be Friday at the courthouse square in Clarksville. The competition originated in 2008 and was founded by KC and Tommy Carrell to display talent found in Arkansas. It was originally at...

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Courier Staff ReportsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Know and Do (July 21, 2016)• Alzheimer’s support group meeting today A meeting of the Alzheimer’s Caregiver Support Group will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Dardanelle Senior Activity Center, 701 N. 5th Street. Any caregiver of someone affected by Alzheimer’s disease or memory loss is invited to attend. • Customer service workshop at ATU The Arkansas Tech Small Business and Technology Development Center and the Russellville Chamber of Commerce will present a Customer Ser...

Bonnie Brown of country music trio, the Browns, diesAssociated Press LITTLE ROCK -- Bonnie Brown, one of three siblings whose smooth harmonies as the Browns influenced generations of singers from the Beatles to Lady Antebellum, died Saturday at age 77. Her publicist, Kirt Webster, said Brown died in Little Rock of complications from lung cancer. With older siblings Jim Ed Brown and Maxine Brown, the three helped define the Nashville sound of the 1950s and '60s. They were inducted in 2015 into t...

Home sales down slightlyLITTLE ROCK -- For the second straight month, new and used residential home sales were down a little over 1 percent for the month of May, but nothing compared to the 21 percent drop in April, according to statistics released last week by the Arkansas Realtors Association (ARA). There were 71 new and used residential homes sold in may in Pope County, compared to the 72 sold in May 2015 for a 1.09 percent decline. Through May 2016, 280 new and u...

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BY SEAN INGRAM
sean@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Garretson arrested for failure to registerJay L. Garretson, 54, was arrested on July 13 after the Pope County Sheriff's Department received a tip that Garretson, a convicted sex offender, was living unregistered in Dover. Garretson had his bond set at $50,000 by District Judge Don Bourne during Monday's felony bond hearings inside the Pope County Detention Center. Officers located Garretson on July 4 standing on the porch at 45 Grandview Drive. Police waited 10 days before making cont...

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSONsimpson@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley